INEOS looking to re-establish ‘Cristiano Ronaldo rule’ after Man United broke it

INEOS are looking to re-establish one of Manchester United’s own rules after the Cristiano Ronaldo saga late in 2022.

Cristiano Ronaldo‘s second stint at Manchester United started off in absolute perfection, with the player scoring twice on his second debut for the club against Newcastle United in 2021.

However, things took a turn for the worse as the 2021/22 campaign dragged on, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær being sacked and Ralf Rangnick taking charge – and Ronaldo eventually left the club in November 2022 after a public fallout with Erik ten Hag.

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After Ronaldo left, it was widely reported that United executives vowed never to hand out high-level contracts such as that they handed to the Portuguese superstar in a rule dubbed the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo rule’, with the club no longer willing to go above the £200,000-a-week mark with new deals.

However, in July 2023, United signed Mason Mount, with figures published by the widely-used website Spotrac confirming that the player had been handed a contract worth £250,000-a-week, showing that United had already broken their own rule.

Mason Mount’s time at United so far has been thoroughly underwhelming, with some good performances being combined with multiple long stints of injury – Mount has mussed 17 games through injury this season and is set to return towards the end of January.

However, INEOS are now looking to re-implement the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo rule’ as they rearrange the entire sporting structure of Manchester United surrounding Erik ten Hag.

United have many players on bloated contracts, such as Casemiro, Raphaël Varane, Anthony Martial, and Jadon Sancho. Some have even questioned the contracts of Luke Shaw (£150,000-a-week) and Marcus Rashford (£300,000-a-week).

INEOS want to lower the sizes of the contracts that are handed to players, with Martial and Varane already feeling the effects of this. Both Frenchmen are in the final few months of their current deals as INEOS do not want to extend their contracts on the current wages, and in the case of Varane, will only allow a deal extension on a reduced salary.

As for Martial, he will leave the club for free in the summer with no extension being triggered or offered.